Brandon Bruffett vows that though Brown's Dairy chocolate milk may have disappeared from the grocery store dairy aisle, it will live on in his epidermis.

It may seem a tongue-in-cheek exercise in irony, but "this is absolutely for real," Bruffett said of the individual-serving plastic jug of chocolate milk tattooed on his forearm, wrapped in a banner that reads "RIP Smooth as Velvet."

"I am a chocolate milk lover," Bruffett said, "I drank it constantly." Specifically, Bruffett said, he drank the Brown's Dairy product, which was by far his favorite. Until it disappeared.

Bruffett was so devoted to Brown's Dairy chocolate milk, in fact, that he considered asking the company to sponsoring a chocolate milk tattoo, as a sort of living endorsement.

As a birthday prank, friends took Bruffett, now 40, to the Central City dairy where he could pose for photos with the company's iconic, oversized plastic cows. Security guards ran them off. Their stern reaction to his devotion made him pessimistic that the company would ever agree to underwrite a chocolate milk tribute tattoo.

But the real tragedy came when Bruffett said that his beloved beverage began disappearing from grocery store refrigerators, replaced with something called TruMoo, which he considers an unacceptable substitute. The Brown's Dairy operation in New Orleans is reportedly in the process of closing.

"This is a travesty," Bruffett said, describing his reaction to the disappearance of his fave. "It is really a shame."

Note: We have not canvassed New Orleans stores to check the availability of Brown's Dairy chocolate milk. If anyone is aware of its availability, Mr. Bruffett would probably be delighted to know where it can be found.

Unable to imbibe, Bruffett, who works as a catastrophic insurance adjuster, said he went beneath the needle of tattoo artist Erica Flannes to express his regret.

"I wanted it to look as classic as it could," he said of the resultant memorial rendering.

This story is part of a series of tattoo tales that will appear on NOLA.com in the coming weeks. If you'd like to share the backstory of your tat, please contact Doug MacCash at dmaccash@nola.com.